PROJECT TRACKER: Region's new $66 million water main

Utility providers are working to build a new pipe that will provide a redundant water supply for much of Southeastern NC

By Makenzie Holland StarNews Staff

Cost: About $66 million

The details: In October 2016, a break occurred in a 48-inch water main that serves Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender counties. The line break, near Riegelwood, took more than a month to fix and about 12.5 million gallons of raw water spilled through the hole daily while it was being repaired and forced utility providers in the region, including Cape Fear Public Utility Authority (CFPUA), Brunswick County Public Utilities and Pender County Utilities, to issue mandatory water restrictions.

Finding themselves in that situation prompted CFPUA, Brunswick County Public Utilities and the Lower Cape Fear Water and Sewer Authority to agree to design a new raw water main, which would be 14 miles long and run parallel to the existing pipe. The existing pipe stretches from the King’s Bluff Pump Station in Bladen County to the raw water tank near the Northwest Water Treatment Plant in Brunswick County.

The progress: Engineers are designing the new pipe for $1.56 million. Brunswick County Public Utilities and CFPUA are sharing the cost of the design work, which started July 1. The goal is to have the design and permitting work completed by the end of 2018. The project partners will then review funding options. Once bids for the project have been received and a contractor selected, construction of the pipe will take about two years.

Reporter Makenzie Holland can be reached at 910-343-2371 or Makenzie.Holland@StarNewsOnline.com.

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